New York City mayor paves the way for stop-and-frisk reform

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday that his administration has filed court papers that would drop the city’s appeal of a court ruling mandating reform of the police department’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy.

According to the New York Times, the city has agreed to settle
the case with civil rights lawyers who successfully argued in
court last year that the New York Police Department’s
stop-and-frisk tactics were unconstitutional and unfairly
targeted minorities.

The move paves the way for the city to implement reforms mandated
by Judge Shira Scheindlin last summer, which include establishing
a court-appointed monitor to oversee the process for three years.
Scheindlin ruled that the NYPD’s tactics when it came to choosing
who to stop, question and search resulted in “the
disproportionate and discriminatory stopping of blacks and
Hispanics in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.”

Those reforms were put on hold since the city’s mayor at the time
– Michael Bloomberg, who was a strong supporter of the NYPD’s
behavior – appealed the ruling. Now, de Blasio is looking to put
an end to the case.

“We’re here today to turn the page on one of the most
divisive problems in our city,” de Blasio said at a press
conference, according to the Times. “We believe in ending the
overuse of stop-and-frisk that has unfairly targeted young
African-American and Latino men.”

“This is a defining moment in our history,” de Blasio
added in a press release. “It’s a defining moment for
millions of our families, especially those with young men of
color. And it will lay the foundation for not only keeping us the
safest big city in America, but making us safer still. This will
be one city, where everyone’s rights are respected, and where
police and community stand together to confront violence.”

As reported by the Associated Press, police stops using the
procedure jumped to more than 5 million over the last 10 years.
Ten percent of all stops resulted in arrests, while weapons were
uncovered by police two percent of the time. As RT noted last
year, a report by New York State Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman also found that stop-and-frisk’s effectiveness was
roughly equal to standard police procedure.

Meanwhile, a 2013 study by the Vera Institute of Justice found
that stop-and-frisk tactics eroded the public’s trust in law
enforcement to the point that even victims of violent crimes were
less likely to go to the police for help.

Under the terms of the settlement, the city will take
recommendations from communities most affected by stop-and-frisk
to ensure residents have a role to play in reform.

“We will not break the law to enforce the law,” said
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. “That’s my solemn promise
to every New Yorker, regardless of where they were born, where
they live, or what they look like. Those values aren’t at odds
with keeping New Yorkers safe — they are essential to long-term
public safety. We are committed to fulfilling our obligations
under this agreement as we protect and serve this great
city.”